A Yorkshire terrier reported stolen four years ago has been reunited with her family, thanks to a microchip and an Arizona animal shelter.
The amazingly cute dog, named Harley, was found running in the streets of Tucson by a volunteer for the Pima Animal Care Center, KOLD television reported. The shelter tracked down Harley’s family by scanning the dog’s microchip ID, registered to owner Barbara Milburn.
Milburn had moved from Arizona to Mississippi since Harley was stolen in a burglary, but kept her old telephone number just in case her dog was found. On Friday, she got the phone call she had been hoping for.
“I was stunned,” Milburn told KOLD. “I even had to ask her to describe her for me. Because I just couldn’t register it.”
Then Milburn called her daughter, Samantha Sandoval, who still lives in Arizona, and Harley was quickly retrieved.
The family, including Milburn, will be celebrating the holidays in Tucson, and the reunion will be complete.
“I’m coming home to pick her up. I can’t get there fast enough. I’ve already got a plane ticket,” Milburn told KOLD. “I’ll definitely be there and I cannot wait. Cannot wait.”
Milburn had owned Harley since birth. The beloved little terrier was stolen during a break-in when the dog was about 3 years old, Milburn told the TV station.
“We put signs, flyers. I thought the worst,” Milburn said from Mississippi. “I cried. It was horrible. It’s like losing a child. All our animals are like our children. But nothing. She never surfaced.”